Sunday, November 12, 2017

Pursuit of the Blue Army: a SAE Wargame

      With the Blue Army in full retreat, General Higginbottom started a rather casual pursuit. With a fresh militia regiment joining his force, Higginbottom turned the pursuit over the the militia commander. He also gave two companies of his grenadiers to the force. The blue force shouldn't be in any condition to rally.
     However, what Higginbottom didn't know is the Blue army received reinforcements of two companies. The blue commander found a nice ridge line to rally his force on and to turn and fight the Red army.
The red army prepares for battle.

The blue army take position on a ridge line. The new reinforcements, the grey battalion, takes the right flank. The blue commander keeps one company in reserve behind the ridge line.

The red army advances piecemeal.


The blue artillery opens fire, and drives one company of militia back.

The blue commander sends three companies forward to try to disrupt the red advance.

The red artillery opens fire and hits the company in front of it.

The blue continues to charge. A fourth company joins the blue charge.

This blurry photo shows the lay of the land during the game; the ridge line doesn't show with the flash of the camera.


The red fire forces two blue companies to retreat.

The blue army continues their attack. The blue commander brings up his reserve company onto the ridge.






The grey troops go right in at the militia.


The red left flank suffers a disastrous turn. One red company is wiped out, and the other company turns tail.

The red army is in a precarious situation.

The red commander shifts his left flank troops towards the center, and refuses the flank (always wanted to say that after seeing "Gettysburg"!) 

The red left flank is stabilized, and the artillery fire drives back another blue company.


The grey companies still inflect heavy losses on the militia, but they hold firm. One grenadier company breaks, but another company moves forward to their aid.

The red center moves forward...

...and the left companies put the grey companies to flight.


The militia overrun one grey company.

The blue army counterattacks.

One militia company breaks and runs.

Things seemed to turn to blue's favor.

However, once again, the red line stabilizes.

The combined fire causes heavy casualties amongst the blue forces.

The blue army decides to withdraw before their losses are too great.

The red army line at the end of the game.

This game gave me an opportunity to show off some more of the SAE clonal British figures I have. I should have put those figures closest to the camera, however, this game was quickly put together.

8 comments:

  1. That should teach Blue, when you have a Ridgeline, use it!
    Exciting little game though.

    I'm hard pressed to say why but from the pictures, I like the look of the Blue (and Grey) figures much better than the Reds.

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  2. The blue commander planned a hit and run strategy; when the reds started running, the blue army got carried away. I should have used the ridge as a way of concentrating on the red army's attack and the blue reacting to the attacks.

    I'm wondering if seeing the Civil War figures in so many classic wargame books might not make your judgement biased. However, I tend to agree with you. I am thinking of using them for Battle Cry games.

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    1. I suspect that familiarity from classic books might be part of it but also just the pose and sculpting. They ought to work well for Battle Cry.

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  3. I have been looking at the Spencer Smith Miniatures website. I believe that Holger Erikkson might have designed both the SSM & SAE ACW figures. I am thinking of filling in my ACW figures with SSM figures. It will be cheaper in the long run, and prices for SAE figures have been going through the roof. I am torn between the SAE and Airfix ACW figures.

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  4. Another lovely looking game John. I lean towards the chaps in bearskins but that's probably due to being on the other side of the ocean to Ross.

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  5. I do have some "British" infantry in home service helmets, which are actually Germans in pickelhelms. One reason I bought the bearskins is for possible use in "Little Wars" games.

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  6. Bearskins for me, I'm afraid. But then, as a Londoner, I am honour bound to support the Brigade of Guards!

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  7. As a child, my mother used in to be into antiques. One particular antique shop had a large collection of SAE figures, mainly AWI & ACW. I used to dream of these figures, but of course couldn't afford them. That, and Donald Featherstones "Wargames" book that featured them is what I think makes me so fond of these figures. I'm sure that if I lived in London and actually got to see the Guards in action, would quickly change my opinion.

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